Vapor detector safety system

ABSTRACT

A combustible vapor detector system providing both a proportional visual reading and a simultaneous switching function in a common instrument includes a meter relay and a vapor sensor remotely located in a compartment likely to have an accumulation of combustible vapors which operably coupled to the meter relay to control its reading at an operator&#39;&#39;s console and a plurality of switching sectors associated with the meter relay arranged to sequentially operate several independent circuits within selected meter ranges so a &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;safe&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; or &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;caution&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; condition will be indicated with auxilliary elements, such as lights or audible elements, apart from the meter readings, and a &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;danger&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; condition will trigger a disabling circuit to stop or prevent the start-up of any machinery located in the compartment containing the sensor. The switching sectors may also be employed to operate a blower to purger the compartment of any accumulation of combustible vapors and the &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;danger&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; condition can also be employed to shut off all electrically controlled machinery located in the compartment having the vapor sensor or elsewhere.

United States Patent [19] Hayden Jan. 29, 1974 VAPOR DETECTOR SAFETYSYSTEM [76] Inventor: Arthur G. Hayden, 1231 Sunset Loop, Walnut Creek,Calif. 94529 [22] Filed: Feb. 20, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 333,517

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation-in-part of Ser. No.198,555, Nov. 15,

1971, abandoned.

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 8/1936 Willenborg 340/237 Rl/l970 Hoffman 307/9 Primary Examiner-Herman Hohauser AssistantExaminer-M. Ginsburg Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Fryer, Tjensvold, Phillips& Lempio [57] ABSTRACT A combustible vapor detector system providingboth a proportional visual reading and a simultaneous switching functionin a common instrument includes a meter relay and a vapor sensorremotely located in a compartment likely to have an accumulation ofcombustible vapors which operably coupled to the meter relay to controlits reading at an operators console and a plurality of switching sectorsassociated with the meter relay arranged to sequentially operate severalindependent circuits within selected meter ranges so a safe or cautioncondition will be indicated with auxilliary elements, such as lights oraudible elements, apart from the meter readings, and a danger conditionwill trigger a disabling circuit to stop or prevent the start-up of anymachinery located in the compart ment containing the sensor. Theswitching sectors may also be employed to operate a blower to purger thecompartment of any accumulation of combustible vapors and the dangercondition can also be employed to shut off all electrically controlledmachinery located in the compartment having the vapor sensor orelsewhere.

5 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures SENSOR Z6 STARTING MOTOR RELAY "1. l I l l iI l I BREAKER T PATENTED 3.789231 SHEET 1 OF 2 1 a J SENSOR ----BLOWER27 I STARTING ClRCUlT -J MOTOR BREAKEK T Z5 RELAY FIG. 1

INVI'JNIOR.

ARTHUK G. HAYDEN PATENTED JAN 2 9 I974 SHEET 2 [IF MANUAL SWITCH BLOWERBATTERY SENSOR (VAPOR) STARTING MOTOR 8: RELAY To MA'INY BUS FIG. 2.-

VAPOR DETECTOR SAFETY SYSTEM CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION Thisapplication is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 198,555filed Nov. 15, 1971 by Arthur G. Hayden, and now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In watercraft such as motor boats, and inparticular inboard motor boats, it is possible for fumes to accumulatein the engine compartment, or other compartments, under a variety ofcircumstances. Since these fumes are often combustible, it is possiblethat a small spark from mechanical equipment located in such acompartment can cause an explosion capable of destroying the watercraftor causing a hazardous fire.

A number of patents have issued which provide various safety systems forsuch watercarft that often involve delay circuits so a blower can purgeone or more compartments in the craft before the engine is started.Typical of such patents are U.S. Pat. No. 3,315,584issued to Van Ranst;U.S. Pat. No. 3,675,034 issued to Abplanalp; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,489,912issued to Hoffman. A related circuit employing a switch associated witha fuel tank cap is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,652,868 issued toHunt.

While all the above safety systems will offer some degree of protectionin watercraft when properly installed, they often tend to be limited intheir effectiveness and/or complicated and complex. Further, the fixeddelay type circuits will often unnecessarily prevent starting orrestarting the engine when no accumulation of fumes of an explosivecharacter has occurred in the monitored compartments of a watercraftcontaining mechanical equipment that might ignite these fumes.Obviously, in emergency situations, such as rough weather or imminentcollision, a delay in the starting cycle could lead to hazardoussituations of a different character.

It is therefore an object of the current invention to provide a simple,yet highly reliable, vapor detector safety system that is inexpensive,compatible with and easy to install on conventionally configuredwatercraft or the like.

It is another object of the instant invention to provide a vapordetector system that provides several separate indications of theconditions sensed by the system which can be conveniently designated assafe, cautionary and dangerous.

Still another object ofthe instant invention is the provision of a vapordetector circuit which does not introduce needless delay in the startingcycles of engines located in compartments where possible dangerousaccumulation of combustible fumes might occur when such accumulationsare not present.

Another object of the instant invention is the provision of a vapordetector circuit which provides a test mode whereby the actualconditions can be premonitored without activating other electricalcircuits within the watercraft which could cause explosions should anaccumulation of fumes be present and a mal- Iunctionion such aselectrical circuits also be pre-cxisting.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The above objects and others can beaccomplished with a combustible vapor detector system which includes ameter relay located at an operators console which includes threesequentially arranged independent switching sectors with separatecircuits associated with each of the switching sectors so these circuitsare independently operated with progressively increasing meterindications providing sequential operation of these circuits and a vaporsensor located in a monitored compartment and operable to sense thepresence of organic fumes with the sensor connected to operate the meterrelay when the sensor and meter relay are energized with a source ofelectric power. Switching means are included in the circuits so themeter relay can be operated independently to sense existing conditionsor in combination with electrically powered machinery control circuits,so that the machinery control circuits need not be energized until apreliminary reading has been taken by the operator. Each of the circuitsdesignated as a safe circuit, a caution circuit and a danger circuitincludes means associated therewith to provide a separate particularindication or a disabling action when the particular circuit isenergized through the meter relay.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a combination diagrammaticand general schematic illustration of the vapor detection system of thisinvention; and

FIG. 2 is a circuit wiring schematic of the system shown in FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1, the vapor detectorcircuit 10 is shown diagrammatically as it would be installed on awatercraft or the like (not shown). In this figure, broken linesrepresent generally the wiring connections between the several remotelylocated components of this system and the meter relay 11 which ispreferably located on the control panel of the watercraft or the like onwhich the system is installed. As can be appreciated when the system hasbeen installed on a water craft or the like, the battery, the vaporsensor 19, the blower 21, the starting motor and relay 23 and thecircuit breaker 25 will all be located remotely of the operators consoleor control panel which is not shown. FIG. 2 shows the actual wiringschematic of the various components of the detector system in greaterdetail than FIG. 1.

More particularly, from the drawings it can be appreciated that keyswitch 24, which includes an on" and a spring resisted start position,is employed to activate the vapor detector system by closing anintegrally contained switch 24b that couples the battery to athree-position switch 12 in the system when the key switch is'in the onor start position. This threeposition switch can be rotated from the ofposition to a test position 12 b. In this test position, the vapordetector circuit is energized, but the main electrical bus bar of thewatercraft, shown in FIG. 2, is not coupled to the battery when thesystem is in the test mode.

In the test mode, power is supplied to pointer 31 of the meter relay 11and is also coupled, through meter coil 38 and vapor sensor 19 toground. With respect to the vapor sensor, it can be appreciated thatmultiple sensors can be employed. These sensors are commerciallyavailable and is referred to in the aforementioned U.S. Pat No.3,489,912. Since the vapor sensor is remotely located in a compartmentwhich is to be monitored for combustible organic fumes, such as theengine compartment of a watercraft, and is arranged to proportionatelydecrease its resistance as the level of combustible vapors in thecompartment increase, the pointer 31 will indicate a reading which isdirectly proportional to the level of combustible fumes which haveaccumulated in the monitored compartment at all times.

As the pointer 31 of the meter relay 11 gives a proportional reading ofthe accumulated fumes which could lead to explosions or fire, its scalecan be divided into three separate independent switching sectors whichsequentially with increasing meter readings are designated as the safesector 16, the caution sector 17 and the danger sector 18. For purposesof illustration, this meter relay is shown in a most simplisticembodiment where the pointer 31 sequentially engages the sectors in abrushing contacting relationship in order to connect battery power witheach of the sectors when the pointer is in contact with a sector.However, since the power utilized in the several independent circuitsassociated with the sectors is small, this arrangement is adequate. Itis to be appreciated that should a more sophisticated embodiment bedesired, other ,types of meter relays, such as that shown in US. Pat.No. 2,967,278 issued to Sullivan et al, could be employed. Further, themeter relay can be completely sealed with a glass panel 15 so thecontacts within the relay will not corrode.

As can be seen from the drawings and the simple meter relay embodimentillustrated, each separate sector has a separate electrical circuitassociated therewith. Safe sector 16 is connected through a filament ofthe green light bulb 13 to ground and when pointer 31 brushingly engagesthis sector, which is the safe range and when the pointer is in thisrange, the green light will be lit.

In a similar manner, when caution sector 17 is brushingly engaged bypointer 31, the caution range, power is supplied via a lead 32 to horn14 and via lead 22 to blower 21.

The horn provides an audible alarm any time the pointer is in thecaution range and at the same time energizes blower 21 which isconnected to the monitored compartment in a manner so that it can purgethe compartment of accumulated fumes. As a result of the above describedcircuits and arrangements, the operator is provided with at least twoindependent indications of both the safe and caution conditions of themonitored compartment as well as automatic operation of the blower 21 inthe caution range.

Because the circuit associated with danger sector 18 is essentially adisabling circuit, its discussion will be deferred until the operatingcircuits that it disables have been described. However, it should benoted that when a dangerous condition is indicated, i.e. when pointer 31is brushingly contacting sector 18, the operator can depress a springclosed manual switch shown in FIG. 2 to connect lead 22 to the batteryto operate the blower so an attempt can be made to purge the monitoredcompartment of any accumulation of explosive fumes then being monitoredby the sensors. 1f the operation of the blower removes the accumulationof fumes in the monitored compartment, the meter reading will swing backthrough the caution range to the safe range, at which time pointer 31will be in contact with sector 16. When the manual switch is released,lead is reconnected as shown in FIG. 2.

When the operator of the watercraft has completed his test check, thethree-position switch 12 can be changed to the on position 12c that willenergize the other electrical circuits in the watercraft via leads 40and 41, the latter being connected to the main electrical bus of thewatercraft through circuit breaker 25. Alternatively, the operator maychoose to skip the test mode of the vapor detector position and godirectly to the on position without danger, since the system willfunction properly in either mode.

With the three-position switch 12 in the *on" position 120, key switch24 may be rotated further counterclockwise in the on" position againstits spring to momentarily close internal switch 240 that willtemporarily energize the starting relay via lead 27 in the startingmotor and relay 23, causing the battery to be coupled directly to thestarting motor by heavy-duty lead, provided the circuit breaker isclosed. After the engine has been started and the key switch released,the spring within the key switch will open switch 240, de-energizing thestarting relay. Further, it should be appreciated that when the keyswitch is rotated to the start position, internal contact 24b remainsclosed.

Also, when the circuit breaker is closed and the vapor detector circuitswitch 12 is in the on position 12c, the main electrical bus of thewatercraft will be energized by a lead 41 connected to the circuitbreaker which is directly coupled to the main electrical bus through thecircuit breaker as illustrated in FIG. 2.

However, if any accumulation of combustible fumes are present orsubsequently accumulate in the monitored compartment at a level which isdangerous, the needle pointer will contact sector 18 of the meter relay11 and connect battery power to the circuit breaker 25 via lead 28.Conventionally, the circuit breaker will be a multiple contact, normallyclosed relay, and when battery power is connected to the ungrounded sideof its coil 43, the armature (not shown) will open the contacts,breaking the connection of circuits connected through the relay. Whenthis occurs, if the engine is not running, it will be impossible tostart the engine, as the starting relay cannot be actuated due to theopen contacts between switch 24c and lead 27. Further, if the engine isrunning, it will stop, since the distributor will be conventionallypowered by the main electrical bus which is disconnected from lead 41when pointer 31 is in the danger range by the circuit breaker relay.

Thus, as a result of the above arrangement and operation, the instantvapor detector system provides a simple, reliable, fail-safe vapordetector circuit which is suitable for the environmental operatingconditions of watercraft at a reasonable cost. Further, the system iseasy to maintain and simple to operate as well, as providing anautomatic control against mis-operation of watercraft by inexperiencedpersonnel.

Having described my invention, 1 claim:

1. A vapor detector control system comprising:

a source of electrical power;

a meter relay having at least three sequential independent switchingranges and a visual reading in all of said ranges, said meter relayoperably coupled to said source;

a first circuit having a first indicating means coupled to a firstswitching range of said meter relay and being operably connected to saidsource by said meter relay when said visual reading is in its firstswitching range;

a second circuit having second indicating means coupled to a secondswitching range of said meter relay and being operably connected to saidsource when said visual reading is in its second switching range;

a third circuit having a disabling means to render machinery in amonitored compartment inoperable coupled to a third switching range ofsaid meter relay when said visual reading is in its third switchingrange; and

vapor sensor electrically coupled to said meter relay and located insaid monitored compartment where explosive organic fumes are likely toaccumulate. said sensor operable to control said visual reading togetherwith the respective said indicating means and disabling means in directrelationship to the concentration of said fumes whereby auxiliarywarnings are provided when said meter reading is in said first andsecond switching ranges and said disabling means renders the machineryin said monitored compartment inoperable when said meter reading is inthe said third switching range.

2. The vapor detector system defined in claim 1 wherein the firstindicating means is an electrical lamp and the second indicating meansis an audible alarm.

3. The vapor detector system defined in claim 1 wherein the secondcircuit includes a blower means connected to the monitored compartmentand operable to purge said monitored compartment of accumulated fumeswhen the meter of the meter relay reading is in its second switchingrange.

4. The vapor detector system defined in claim 1 wherein a multi-positionswitch is coupled between the source and the meter relay whereby thevapor detector system can be operated independently and in combinationwith other electrical circuits.

5. The vapor detector system defined in claim 1 wherein the disablingmeans is a normally closed circuit breaker which opens its contacts whenactivated by said power source through the meter relay.

1. A vapor detector control system comprising: a source of electricalpower; a meter relay having at least three sequential independentswitching ranges and a visual reading in all of said ranges, said meterrelay operably coupled to said source; a first circuit having a firstindicating means coupled to a first switching range of said meter relayand being operably connected to said source by said meter relay whensaid visual reading is in its first switching range; a second circuithaving second indicating means coupled to a second switching range ofsaid meter relay and being operably connected to said source when saidvisual reading is in its second switching range; a third circuit havinga disabling means to render machinery in a monitored compartmentinoperable coupled to a third switching range of said meter relay whensaid visual reading is in its third switching range; and a vapor sensorelectrically coupled to said meter relay and located in said monitoredcompartment where explosive organic fumes are likely to accumulate, saidsensor operable to control said visual reading together with therespective said indicating means and disabling means in directrelationship to the concentration of said fumes whereby auxiliarywarnings are provided when said meter reading is in said first andsecond switching ranges and said disabling means renders the machineryin said monitored compartment inoperable when said meter reading is inthe said third switching range.
 2. The vapor detector system defined inclaim 1 wherein the first indicating means is an electrical lamp and thesecond indicating means is an audible alarm.
 3. The vapor detectorsystem defined in claim 1 wherein the second circuit includes a blowermeans connected to the monitored compartment and operable to purge saidmonitored compartment of accumulated fumes when the meter of the meterrelay reading is in its second switching range.
 4. The vapor detectorsystem defined in claim 1 wherein a multi-position switch is coupledbetween the source and the meter relay whereby the vapor detector systemcan be operated independently and in combination with other electricalcircuits.
 5. The vapor detector system defined in claim 1 wherein thedisabling means is a normally closed circuit breaker which opens itscontacts when activated by said power source through the meter relay.